English Advanced allignment / scaling? (1 Viewer)

[carrotsss]

wait what? whats the point of aligned marks if they’re not used?

they’re the ones you receive from NESA when hsc results come out, the main idea is to standardise hsc results between years, so a band 6 in English advanced in one year is more or less the same as a band 6 in another year irrespective of how hard the paper is, and represents a mark where they think you’ve fulfilled the band criteria

 

[jonolad69]

i think 82 will be a b6 at best

i cant see 78/79/80 ever being a b6 in english advanced ever

 

[jonolad69]

they’re the ones you receive from NESA when hsc results come out, the main idea is to standardise hsc results between years, so a band 6 in English advanced in one year is more or less the same as a band 6 in another year irrespective of how hard the paper is, and represents a mark where they think you’ve fulfilled the band criteria

wait so if alignment is better this year, will that mean the atar contribution for each mark will improve or be worse?

 

[katiekms]

they’re the ones you receive from NESA when hsc results come out, the main idea is to standardise hsc results between years, so a band 6 in English advanced in one year is more or less the same as a band 6 in another year irrespective of how hard the paper is, and represents a mark where they think you’ve fulfilled the band criteria

oh, but then wouldn’t it make sense to use aligned marks bc doesn’t that mean some years would be easier to get a higher atar? or am i confused. (i know like nothing about this)

 

[herbimycin]

oh, but then wouldn’t it make sense to use aligned marks bc doesn’t that mean some years would be easier to get a higher atar? or am i confused. (i know like nothing about this)

Basically every year they look at the exam and the overall marks to determine how difficult the test was in comparison to other years. The then look at the band descriptors for the subject, which are basically written explanations of what a student in each band level should be capable of. From this, it is determined what marks are needed to qualify for each band to account for the fact that different exams can be harder or easier (this is especially prevalent in things like maths, where some exams are really hard and so the average marks are low, despite the cohort being just as smart as normal). Then they align your marks according to this (these are the marks nesa gives you) to create some consistency across how difficult it is to get a certain mark across years in the same subject.

Then, UAC gets your marks and scales them. This is when they compare marks across subjects to work out how 'difficult' it is to get a certain mark in each subject. This is what determines your atar. Each subject has a different atar contribution, so in something like extension 2 maths an aligned mark of 90 will have an atar contribution of like 99. In an 'easier' subject, a mark of 90 may have a lower atar contribution. This is bc the alignment process only works out your marks relative to the band descriptors for that specific subject. The scaling process is how they compare subjects to get an atar. Marks/bands across different subjects are not comparable, nor will they contribute to your atar in the same way, because the band descriptors differ across subjects.

In terms of how it differs each year, if the exam is harder than normal (i.e. people get lower marks overall), the raw mark needed for a band 6 will be lower to account for the increased difficulty. If the exam is easier than normal, your raw mark would have to be higher for a band 6. Regardless, the scaling process will compare how students do in different subjects to work out a comparison between subjects. So its not really easier or harder to get a band 6 or a specific atar in different years. And the atar is just a rank in comparison to the rest of nsw, so even if everyone's marks were for some reason higher than normal, the atars would not change as it is all just a comparison with how everyone else goes.

 

[katiekms]

Basically every year they look at the exam and the overall marks to determine how difficult the test was in comparison to other years. The then look at the band descriptors for the subject, which are basically written explanations of what a student in each band level should be capable of. From this, it is determined what marks are needed to qualify for each band to account for the fact that different exams can be harder or easier (this is especially prevalent in things like maths, where some exams are really hard and so the average marks are low, despite the cohort being just as smart as normal). Then they align your marks according to this (these are the marks nesa gives you) to create some consistency across how difficult it is to get a certain mark across years in the same subject.

Then, UAC gets your marks and scales them. This is when they compare marks across subjects to work out how 'difficult' it is to get a certain mark in each subject. This is what determines your atar. Each subject has a different atar contribution, so in something like extension 2 maths an aligned mark of 90 will have an atar contribution of like 99. In an 'easier' subject, a mark of 90 may have a lower atar contribution. This is bc the alignment process only works out your marks relative to the band descriptors for that specific subject. The scaling process is how they compare subjects to get an atar. Marks/bands across different subjects are not comparable, nor will they contribute to your atar in the same way, because the band descriptors differ across subjects.

In terms of how it differs each year, if the exam is harder than normal (i.e. people get lower marks overall), the raw mark needed for a band 6 will be lower to account for the increased difficulty. If the exam is easier than normal, your raw mark would have to be higher for a band 6. Regardless, the scaling process will compare how students do in different subjects to work out a comparison between subjects. So its not really easier or harder to get a band 6 or a specific atar in different years. And the atar is just a rank in comparison to the rest of nsw, so even if everyone's marks were for some reason higher than normal, the atars would not change as it is all just a comparison with how everyone else goes.

thank you so much!! this was very helpful ty

 

[herbimycin]

Has anyone got an idea of what the alignment will actually look like this year? The past couple of years it has been around 83-85 for a band 6, maybe a bit higher this year seeing there weren't really any crazy questions (aside from mod c discursive)? I got an 86 in trials (top 4th/20, 2023 4 B6's in last years adv class). Would really like the band 6 but not sure if ill quite get there.

 

[jonolad69]

Has anyone got an idea of what the alignment will actually look like this year? The past couple of years it has been around 83-85 for a band 6, maybe a bit higher this year seeing there weren't really any crazy questions (aside from mod c discursive)? I got an 86 in trials (top 4th/20, 2023 4 B6's in last years adv class). Would really like the band 6 but not sure if ill quite get there.

as if the b6 cut off will be higher than 84 this year. i think ur really overestimating people's abilities for that mod A question aswell as the mod C discursive

 

[herbimycin]

as if the b6 cut off will be higher than 84 this year. i think ur really overestimating people's abilities for that mod A question aswell as the mod C discursive

Thats good to hear. I guess i was just half expecting at least one question on a really specific topic/theme that throws lots of people of if they didnt prep for it particulaly. But the mod c makes sense, plenty of people had only imaginative ready